Cambs Council To Cut 300 Jobs

300 jobs at Cambridgeshire County Council are to be cut by 2013, as the authority faces big money problems.

The cuts are a result of a 20 percent cut in the county council's budget over the next five years.

In a statement, the authority confirmed that it will need to find funds to meet £48 million in inflation pressures, £55 million in costs to meet increased demand due to an aging population, and finally a £2 million reduction in Government funding.

It means the council workforce, which is currently around 6,500 people, will shrink by 300 posts by 2012/13.

However, the number of redundancies is expected to be far less as the reduction will largely be met by natural wastage and not filling existing vacancies.

The authority also wants to increase its portion of council tax by three percent, which is the maximum allowed by the Government.

Other savings will be made by cuts to adult services, red tape and bureaucracy.

Adult and children's social services could also be affected.

Council leader Jill Tuck said: "The next five years contains the bleakest outlook for public services nationally for decades.

Dealing with those longer term pressures, painful as they are, is at the heart of our budget plans and is one of the most challenging tasks we have ever had to undertake."

The county council cabinet will consider the budget proposals in a meeting on the 16th of February.